Voices Saudi Arabia cannot pay its workers or bills – yet continues to fund a war in Yemen

World News | Mon Sep 5, 2016 12:20pm EDT Cash crunch at Saudi firm casts shadow over Lebanon's Hariris By Tom Perry | BEIRUT The Hariri family's pre-eminent role in Lebanese politics is being shaken by a financial crisis at its Saudi construction firm, a development that could dilute Sunni influence in the country and leave Iran's allies even more firmly in control. The troubles at Saudi Oger have led to a cash crunch and layoffs in Lebanon's Future Movement, the political party built with Saudi backing by the late statesman Rafik al-Hariri and now led by his son, Saad. The party's woes have led many analysts in Lebanon to ask whether Riyadh may be cutting its losses in a country increasingly dominated by the Iran-backed Shi'ite Hezbollah despite enormous Saudi efforts to counter it over the years. "We can't deny the existence of a financial crisis, which is a reflection of another one that has nothing to do with the organization. It has an indirect link to the crisis of Saudi Oger," said Rashed Fayed, a Future Movement official who is a member of its policy-making office. The financial engine behind the Hariri family's political network, Saudi Oger has been hit hard recently by a slowdown in the Saudi construction sector linked to the drop in oil prices and resulting state spending cuts. Wage payments to thousands of its workers have been delayed for months, according to Saudi media and the workers themselves. The company has declined to speak publicly about its finances. Many employees of Hariri-owned organizations in Lebanon also say they have not been paid in months. Sources in the Future Movement said some staff were laid off last week. One source, who declined to be named, said the layoffs aimed to cut costs across the movement to safeguard continued operations. The situation may reflect a bigger shift in Saudi policy as other countries become more important in its titanic struggle with Iran, notably Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain, analysts say. Lebanon is one of the places where that conflict first flared: with Saudi support, Hariri spearheaded a political confrontation with Hezbollah following his father's assassination in 2005. "Is Hariri part of the past in Saudi, the present, or the future? This is the biggest question surrounding him," said commentator Jihad el-Zein. Although his party has deep roots in Lebanon's Sunni community built over decades, "we can't imagine a political history or presence for it without Saudi Arabia". A BIGGER SHIFT Despite Saudi efforts, Hezbollah's influence in Lebanon has grown only stronger. Riyadh canceled a $4 billion aid package to the Lebanese army and security forces in February over perceived Hezbollah influence on Lebanese foreign policy. The Saudi foreign minister said in March the group had "hijacked" government decisions. While Hezbollah built its legitimacy in the Shi'ite community on the fight to drive Israel from southern Lebanon, Rafik al-Hariri was building his by rebuilding Lebanon from its civil war. He became more powerful than any of a number of Sunni families that had historically led the community. An international tribunal has indicted five members of Hezbollah over his assassination. The group denies any role. Saad followed in his father's footsteps, becoming prime minister in 2009 until his unity government was toppled in 2011 by the resignation of Hezbollah and its allies. He then spent years outside the country, making only short visits until earlier this year when he returned permanently. The Hariri family's network includes media outlets and charitable foundations as well as the Future Movement's party bureaucracy, a large staff of advisors and regional offices. Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat said financial difficulties were first felt in 2009 "but in the last year it has become more acute". Public services including health support offered by the party have been cut back, he told Reuters. "Nothing has been halted completely, but nothing is at the previous level," he said. Fatfat was confident the Future Movement would remain politically dominant, however, "because people realize that we defend their real interests, the state, Sunni moderation and coexistence". AN OPPORTUNITY FOR REFORM? Also In World News Iraq militia fighters join battle for Syria's Aleppo Exclusive: ACT partners with test-prep firms despite signs of cheating in Asia Russian jet came within 10 feet of U.S. spy plane: U.S. officials Yemen foreign minister urges more support for fight against militia foes Hariri's opponents see his financial problems as a harbinger of his political demise. The pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper declared on the frontpage of its Friday edition that a "massacre" of Future Movement employees was underway. The big test will be parliamentary elections expected to be held next year for the first time since 2009, in which Hariri will face a growing challenge from Ashraf Rifi, a former ally who beat established Sunni politicians in local elections in the predominantly Sunni city of Tripoli in May. Rifi's tough rhetoric has struck a chord with Sunnis who are hostile to Iran and Hezbollah. Hariri is equally scathing in his public remarks, but his party's continued participation in government alongside Hezbollah has exposed him to criticism from hawks in the Sunni community. Rifi resigned from his post as justice minister in February in protest at what he saw as Hezbollah's domination in the unity government, which is widely seen as a guarantor of political stability. He also criticized Hariri for nominating a Hezbollah ally, Suleiman Franjieh, for the vacant presidency last year. For its part, Hezbollah is deeply suspicious of Rifi. Its refusal to consent to the extension of his term as chief of police contributed to the collapse of the government in 2013. While Rifi's politics have won him admirers in Saudi Arabia, where some see him as a potentially more effective ally than Hariri, he does not have the kind of countrywide presence built by the Hariris over nearly two decades. The Future Movement is due to convene a conference in October. Fayed, the Future Movement official, said the financial crisis was an opportunity for reform. A Future activist, who declined to be identified, said Hariri faced a struggle to redefine the movement, forecasting that his dominance would steadily diminish as other Sunni politicians gain ground. "Harirism was built on pillars -- financial capabilities and Arab Gulf backing. In 2016, political Harirism has neither of these," the activist said. Nabil Boumonsef, a commentator in An-Nahar newspaper, said it was too early to say how the crisis would play out for Hariri, who remains the strongest Sunni leader for now. But he warned against him being weakened. "Hariri is the main moderate Sunni force in Lebanon, and if this political track is damaged, you are damaging Sunni moderation," Boumonsef told Reuters. "This is very dangerous for Lebanon." (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall) ================================= Voices Saudi Arabia cannot pay its workers or bills – yet continues to fund a war in Yemen In Saudi Arabia itself, the government seems unable to cope with the crisis. The 'Arab News' says that 31,000 Saudi and other foreign workers have lodged complaints with the government’s labour ministry over unpaid wages. On one occasion, the Indian consulate and expatriates brought food to the workers so that their people should not starve Robert Fisk @indyvoices 14 hours ago53 Voices Culture Lifestyle Tech Sport Paralympics Daily Edition Voices Saudi Arabia cannot pay its workers or bills – yet continues to fund a war in Yemen In Saudi Arabia itself, the government seems unable to cope with the crisis. The 'Arab News' says that 31,000 Saudi and other foreign workers have lodged complaints with the government’s labour ministry over unpaid wages. On one occasion, the Indian consulate and expatriates brought food to the workers so that their people should not starve Robert Fisk @indyvoices 14 hours ago53 comments 498 jeddah-skyline.jpg Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Wikipedia Almost exactly a year after Salman bin Albdulaziz Al Saud, king of Saudi Arabia, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and head of the House of Saud, hurriedly left his millionaire’s mansion near Cannes with his 1,000 servants to continue his vacation in Morocco, the kingdom’s cash is not flowing so smoothly for the tens of thousands of sub-continental expatriates sweating away on his great building sites. Almost unreported outside the Kingdom, the country’s big construction magnates – including that of the Binladen group – have not been paid by the Saudi government for major construction projects and a portion of the army of Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and other workers have received no wages, some of them for up to seven months. Indian and Pakistani embassies approached the Saudi government, pleading that their workers should be paid. Economists who adopt the same lickspittle attitude towards the Saudi monarchy as the British Government, constantly point out that the authorities have been overwhelmed by the collapse of oil prices. They usually prefer not to mention something at which the rest of the world remains aghast: deputy crown prince and defence minister Mohamed bin Salman’s wasteful and hopeless war in Yemen. Since the king’s favourite son launched this preposterous campaign against the Houthis last year, supporting the internationally recognized Yemeni president against Shia Muslim rebels, aircraft flown by Saudi and Emirati pilots (aided by British technical “experts” on the ground) have bombed even more hospitals, clinics and medical warehouses than America has destroyed in Serbia and Afghanistan combined since The result? A country with 16 per cent of the world’s proven oil reserves, whose Aramco oil company makes more than $1bn a day and now records a budget deficit of $100bn, cannot pay its bills. At first, the Yemen fiasco was called “Operation Decisive Storm”, which – once it proved the longest and least decisive Arab “storm” in the Middle East’s recent history – was changed to “Operation Restore Hope”. And the bombing went on, just as it did in the pre-“hope” “storm”, along with the help of the UK’s “experts”. No wonder the very same deputy crown prince Mohamed announced this year that state spending on salaries would be lowered, yet individual earnings would rise. In Pakistan, whose soldiers make up a large number of the “Saudi” armed forces, there has been outrage, parliamentarians are asking why three Saudi companies have not paid salaries for eight months, refusing even to provide food for their employees. In some cases, the Pakistanis have paid their own nationals for food supplies. In Saudi Arabia itself, the government seems unable to cope with the crisis. The Arab News says that 31,000 Saudi and other foreign workers have lodged complaints with the government’s labour ministry over unpaid wages. On one occasion, the Indian consulate and local Indian expatriates brought food to the workers so that their people should not starve. The overall figure that the government owes the construction companies owed may be billions of dollars. Overtly xenophobic comments have emerged in the Saudi press. Writing in the Saudi Gazette, Abdulrtahman Saad Al-Araabi said: “Many expats hate us and are angry because we are a rich country. Some of them go so far as to say that we, Saudis, do not deserve these blessings and the money we have. That is the reason why some of them become violent when they do not get paid on time.” people are paying a lot of cash to the Jabhat al-Nusra (recently re-named Jabhat Fateh al-Shamal-Nusrah) or Al-Qaeda or Isis lads out there in the line of fire in Syria. Embassy staff from the Philippines, France and many countries in the Middle East, have raised the problems with the Saudi government. Typical of their responses has been that of Saudi Oger which said it had been “affected by current circumstances [sic] which resulted in some delays in delays in fulfilling our commitments to our employees”. The Saudi government insisted the company paid its employees. Many of them, it should be added, are Lebanese whose Sunni Muslims come from the Sunni areas of Lebanon who traditionally vote for the Sunni leader’s son Saad. An official of the company made the extraordinary statement that “the company’s situation is unstable due to the scrapping [sic] of many of its projects it was to execute,” Meanwhile, workers at United Seemac construction company are complaining they have not been paid for months – or even granted permission to leave the country. Some had apparently not been paid for more than a year and a half. Unlike the big companies such as Binladen and Oger, these men – and they are indeed mostly men – are consumed into the smaller employees. “All the attention is on the big companies – it’s easy to ignore us because we are not so many people.” All in all, a dodgy scenario in our beloved monarchy-dictatorship, whose war against the Shia Houthis – and the Shia Hezbollah, the Shia/Alawite regime in Damascus and Iran – is unending. Wasn’t there an equally dodgy Al-Yamamah arms deal with the Saudis a few years ago? No cash flow problems then. And what does “yamamah” mean in Arabic? “Dove”? Let us go no further. 498

Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC)

Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) is a type of fiber reinforced concrete. Glass fiber concretes are mainly used in exterior building façade panels and as architectural precast concrete. This material is very good in making shapes on the front of any building and it is less dense than steel.
Contents [hide]

* 1 Composition
o 1.1 Laminates
* 2 History
* 3 Properties
o 3.1 Sandwich Panels
* 4 External links


Composition

Glass fiber reinforced composite materials consist of high strength glass fiber embedded in a cementitious matrix. In this form, both fibers and matrix retain their physical and chemical identities, yet they produce a combination of properties that can not be achieved with either of the components acting alone. In general fibers are the principal load-carrying members, while the surrounding matrix keeps them in the desired locations and orientation, acting as a load transfer medium between them, and protects them from environmental damage. In fact, the fibers provide reinforcement for the matrix and other useful functions in fiber-reinforced composite materials. Glass fibers can be incorporated into a matrix either in continuous lengths or in discontinuous (chopped) lengths.
Laminates

The most common form in which fiber-reinforced composites are used in structural application is called a laminate. It is obtained by stacking a number of thin layers of fibers and matrix and consolidating them into the desired thickness. The fiber orientation in each layer as well as the stacking sequence of various layers can be controlled to generate a wide range of physical and mechanical properties for the composite laminate...
History

The potential for using a glass fiber reinforced concrete system was recognized by Russians in the 1940s. The early work on glass fiber reinforced concrete went through major modifications over the next few
Properties

The design of GFRC panels proceeds from a knowledge of its basic properties under tensile, compressive, bending and shear forces, coupled with estimates of behavior under secondary loading effects such as creep, thermal and moisture movement.

There are a number differences between structural metal and fiber-reinforced composites. For example, metals in general exhibit yielding and plastic deformation whereas most fiber-reinforced composites are elastic in their tensile stress-strain characteristics. However, the dissimilar nature of these materials provides mechanisms for high-energy absorption on a microscopic scale comparable to the yielding process. Depending on the type and severity of external loads, a composite laminate may exhibit gradual deterioration in properties but usually would not fail in catastrophic manner. Mechanisms of damage development and growth in metal and composite structure are also quite different. Other important characteristics of many fiber-reinforced composites are their non-corroding behavior, high damping capacity and low coefficients of thermal expansion.

Glass fiber reinforced concrete architectural panels have general appearance of pre-cast concrete panels, but are different in several significant ways. For example, GFRC panels will, on the average, weigh substantially less than pre-cast concrete panels due to their reduced thickness. The low weight of GFRC panels decrease superimposed loads on the building’s structural components. The building frame becomes more economical.
Sandwich Panels

A sandwich panel is a composite of three or more materials bonded together to form a structural panel. It takes advantage of the shear strength of a low density core material and the high compressive and tensile strengths of the GFRC facing to obtain high strength to weight ratios.

The theory of sandwich panels and functions of the individual components may be described by making an analogy to an I-beam. Core in a sandwich panel is comparable to the web of an I-beam, which supports the flanges and allows them to act as a unit. The web of the I-beam and the core of the sandwich panels carry the beam shear stresses. The core in a sandwich panel differs from the web of an I-beam in that it maintains a continuous support for the facings, allowing the facings to be worked up to or above their yield strength without crimping or buckling. Obviously, the bonds between the core and facings must be capable of transmitting shear loads between these two components thus making the entire structure an integral unit.

The load carrying capacity of a sandwich panel can be increased dramatically by introducing steel stud framing. The light steel stud framing will be similar to conventional steel stud framing for walls, except, that the frame is encased in a concrete product. Here all the sides of the steel frame are covered with two or several layers of GFRC, depending on the type and magnitude of external loads. The strong and rigid GFRC provides full lateral support on both sides of the studs, preventing studs from twisting and buckling laterally. The resulting panel is light weight in comparison with traditionally reinforced concrete, yet it is strong and durable and can easily be handled.


Saudi Oger Ltd.

- licensed engineer with managerial skills and minimum of years experience, extensive knowledge in all aspect in the manufacture of premix GRC/GFRC ( sprayed and vibrated ), basic understanding of GRC/GFRC quality control testing procedures and cement chemistry, and ability to interpret complicated technical drawings.

- Experience in various complex / complicated construction moulds and molding materials an advantages.

- Ability to manage 250+ personnel, set workloads, schedules and meet deadlines, and demonstrate procedures within the GRC/GFRC factory.

- Good command over English language.

- Good communication skills and high management skills.

- Computer literate and understanding of basic windows software application.

- Will be handling the following materials:
* Molds, screwdriver compressed air, Aluminium structure, wrench.
* Plugs, lifting sockets, screw plug, inserts systems.
* Vibrators and inverters.
* GRC Central
* Sand, ciment en silo, adjuvant silo, water.
* Shovels and mixer.
* Sand, ciment, adjuvant and water.
* Vibrators and inverters, pumps, trowels.
* GRC mix.
* Trowels. Floats.
* GRC mix
* Plastic sheeting. Polystyrene.
* Rudder pulleys, crane, compressed air and screwdriver.
* Recovery table, crane, lifting straps and storage racks.
Skills

.
Company Profile

Over the past 30 years Saudi Oger has evolved into a leading multi-national and multi-divisional organization with subsidiaries and affiliates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and abroad.

We are one of the largest and most diverse companies in the KSA. We currently employ more than 65, 000 people within KSA and over 100, 000 people globally.

Our diverse private and public portfolio has become the center of construction for prestigious and complex projects throughout the Middle East.

We are an industry leader with the most dynamic infrastructure, engineering and construction projects in the Gulf and abroad.

www.saudioger.com Saudi moves to help stranded Indian workers AFP By AFP August 4, 2016 09:17 Saudi moves to help stranded Indian workers Related Articles • Islamic State working to develop chemical weapons: Australia • Clinton email case closes as US attorney general levels no charges • US court to hear case against unjust arrests of Muslims after 9/11 JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia took steps on Wednesday to help around 2,500 Indian workers stranded without money in the kingdom after a plunge in oil prices sparked construction layoffs. India’s minister of state for external affairs, V.K. Singh, said he had a “very good meeting” with Saudi Labour Minister Mufarrej al-Haqbani during which they discussed the plight of the workers. Singh arrived in the Red Sea city of Jeddah on Wednesday to negotiate the repatriation of the migrant workers who lost their jobs and were left without enough money to return home. He said on Twitter that the Saudi government had taken “immediate action to ensure that all camps where Indian workers were staying are provided facilities like medical, food, hygiene and sanitation”. The government was also “providing free passage to all those who want to go back to India,” he added. Speaking to reporters in Jeddah, Singh added, “All the people who want to go back can go back at the expense of the government of Saudi Arabia.” Riyadh would also honour workers’ claims against companies that had defaulted on payments and had agreed to allow workers to transfer to other companies in the kingdom, he said. Under the kafala system, applied on foreign workers in Gulf countries, most employees are restricted from moving to a new job without their boss’s consent before their contracts end, leaving many trapped. It has been criticised by rights groups as a form of bonded labour or even slavery. Asian activists and officials have said that thousands of jobless Indians, Filipinos, and Pakistanis are stranded and destitute in Saudi Arabia following the layoffs. Some of them have been forced to beg or sift through garbage to survive after going unpaid for months, according to officials. The Okaz daily on Wednesday quoted labour ministry official Abdullah al-Alyan as saying that the kingdom had promised “urgent” action to help around 2,500 Indian workers. Urgent action But Alyan did not mention thousands of Saudi-based Filipino and Pakistani workers and dismissed as “rumours” that about 10,000 Indian workers had been left to starve. Alyan said the “immediate and urgent action” was to resolve the issues of “2,500 Indian workers from Saudi Oger who have faced difficulties due the delays in their salaries” and cut-offs in electricity and food supplies from their camps. Singh told reporters that “things are not as bad as they have been shown” and insisted that only one company was involved. Sources in March told AFP that delayed receipts from the government, whose oil revenues have dropped significantly in the past two years, left construction workers struggling while they wait for salaries. Haqbani said that Saudi Oger’s actions were “not accepted.” Saudi Oger, the once-mighty construction giant led by Lebanon’s billionaire former prime minister Saad Hariri, is among the affected companies. It employs about 50,000 people of various nationalities. “We will protect the rights of the workers, not from India alone, but from all countries (whose citizens are working) in this company,” Haqbani said without giving details. Saudi Oger has built some of the most grandiose complexes in Riyadh, including the palatial Ritz-Carlton hotel. In May, Saudi Binladin Group – one of the world’s largest construction companies – began paying delayed wages to its remaining staff. The company had also laid off tens of thousands of employees because of financial difficulties.